Miami Landscaping tips and tricks

Have you ever marveled at the beautiful and breathtaking gardens, lawns and yards of your neighbors? Did you want to start landscaping on your own, but were too scared or confused? Then our landscaping tips and tricks will surely help you improve your Florida home!

Start with Planning

Truth be told, landscaping mostly consists of routine work. There's a lot of trimming, mowing, and just keeping the garden clean. However, to get the garden of your dreams, a lot of planning has to take place first.

Think about what you want from your garden. Search online and in magazines for that perfect look at will suit you the most. How you will use the space you have is one of the most important things here. Will you be bold and add a water feature in your garden, or will you be content with lovely trees and plants?

Landscaping is mostly routine work

Furthermore, think about different spaces there are in your garden. Include into your considerating both hard spaces like concrete areas, driveways, and paved trees, as well as soft spaces like lawns and gardens. How can you best utilize them? Is there any way to contrast them, and by doing so, bring out their own charms? Also, think about how you can also use various slopes and utilities in your garden, as well as the aesthetics of your neighborhood.

Design is Important

After you are done with planning, it's time to start thinking about the design of your yard. One of the easiest and best tools you can employ is repetition. Repeating various elements within your yard gives it an air of harmony in your yard. Connecting similar designs brings the sense of unity, which is another great landscaping tip to remember.

Especially relevant to remember is consistency. Always try to be consistent in your designs. Try to use the same materials, although mixing colors is nice in some forms. Think about adding black and white stones, for example. An odd element popping out of the given design can be eye-catching and intriguing but is sometimes off-putting and disturbing the flow of the yard.

On the other hand, well placed focal points are quite the attention grabbers. Focal points can be anything from trees and plants to man-made stuff such as statues or even furniture. A thing to remember is that symmetry often enforces the effect of focal points, while you can use asymmetrical design so soften or even remove the focus completely.

Think about the Lines

Another important element of landscape design is the use of lines. Using horizontal lines brings a sense of relaxation and ease into your yard, and use vertical lines for a dynamic and energetic lawn. Various elements can be used to form these lines - trees, plants, rocks, and stones. You can even mow your lawn in such a way that the grass itself will form the lines you want.

On the other hand, there is a contrast between straight lines and curves. Straight lines are usually used for order and stability, while the curves are there for movement in your yard. Manipulate these to get the eye of the viewer to stop on some elements and then guide it with curved lines to move to the other.

Japanese garden is an oasis in a busy city

Curved lines are also fantastic to use to lead the viewer towards the focal points, as well as around them, in order to frame the points and define them better amongst other elements. They are great to use in urban areas - just think of the breathtaking Japanese gardens enclosed in tall apartment buildings, and the juxtaposition of those elements.

Playing with Trees

Finally, the last element on our list of design and landscaping tips are the trees. Think about various trees, their shapes and the conditions needed to keep them alive in your yard. Trees are great both for repetition and creating lines, as well as being the focal points.

Use conical and column-shaped trees to steer the gaze upwards. These are great for tall buildings' yards and if you have elements of your house or your roof you would like to highlight.

Maybe even more important about the trees is their shade. If you haven't heard, Florida weather can be quite hot, so having a nice shade is always a great help. Think about shades, and where it will fall in your yard.Will your kids play in that shade? Will it make a great resting place, so you can bring your patio furniture out? Will the shade make interesting colors on the paved areas? Utilizing shades can lift you from a good landscaper to a great one!

Driveways and Paths Landscaping tips

When many people think about landscaping, it's usually gardens, grass, hedges, and trees that fall on their mind. But driveways and paths are as much a part of your yard as all of the previously mentioned elements, so here are some landscaping tips for your paved areas as well.

Use patterns to create texture

You can use large slabs for curb-like feel. This is great for creating borders, which again creates a sense of stability and unity in your design.

Think about using gravel for creating paths to your front door, or to the backyard. This has an interesting texture, and you can line it with flower pads and rocks in order to add even more interesting elements to your yard.

While on the subject of texture, using patterns can be a great asset when working with materials that do not have an interesting texture. Using cobble or paving stones instead of just paving your paths adds an interesting texture-like feeling to them.

If you are feeling bold, you can go for big shapes. You can encircle your focal points with gravel, then add a circle of flowers or stones to highlight it even more. Be creative and mix the materials you have.

Care for Water

When talking about landscaping tips, an especially relevant topic for South Florida is caring for the water. Be very moderate when using pesticides and other toxic materials. A lot of areas in South Florida use groundwater sources and pesticides can cause significant pollution here.

Hopefully, this article gave you some nice landscaping tips and tricks for your new Florida yard. There is much more helpful information about the topic just a quick internet search away! Enjoy and good luck!